Hot-water heater



2 Sheets'Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

K G 0 L T. 1 H Wm m m n w B An PH E H S L W No. 562,857. Patented Juneso, 1896.

(No Model.) 2 eeeeeeeeee et 2. W. L. SHEPARD & E. W. WHITLOG-K.

I HOT WA EEEEEEEE R.

= plum! UNITED STATES PATENT Erica XVILBUR L. SHEPARD AND ERASTUS WV.\VHITLOCK, OF ELMIVOOD, CONNECTICUT.

HOT-WATER H EATER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 562,857, dated June 30,1896.

Application filed March 30, 1892. Serial No. 427,081. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, WILBUR L. SHEPARD and ERASTUS W. WrnrLooK, ofElmwood, in the county of Hartford and State of Connecticut, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Hotater Heaters, ofwhich the following is a full, clear, and exact description, whereby anyone skilled in the art can make and use the same.

The object of our invention is to provide an apparatus for heatingbuildings by the circulation of a current of hot water from a centralheater through connecting pipes and coils or radiators of a heatingsystem, and to provide a heater in which water can be economiciilly andrapidly heated and effectively circuated.

To this end our invention consists in the tie tails of the several partsmaking up the heater as a whole and in the combination of such parts asmore particularly hereinafter described, and pointed out in the claim.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a detail view, in verticalcentral section, through our improved heater, showing the construction.Fi g. 2 is a view in elevation of the heater, with parts broken away toshow construction.

In the accompanying drawings the letter a denotes the base of theheater, that may be of any convenient construction, but usually of metalcastto shape, and having an ash-pit provided with a door a, having theusual damper. At the top of the base is supported a grate b, and abovethis is a flange a that supports the upright walls of the heater,thatare preferably cylindrical in form. This inclosing wall is made up,preferably, of an inner layer 1) of asbestos, next to which is alayer 1) of metal; next to this a layer 6 made up of wool and asbestos.Outside of this is a space I) and the jacket 12*. Surrounding the wholeis a metal drum. A number of bolts 0 extend lengthwise from the flange(t to the top piece or cover cl and serve to hold by means of the usualnuts and threaded ends the several parts of the heater-body together.Within the walls is arranged a fire-box e, that is made up of closecoils of the water-pipe f, that enters the chamber by the bottom and isarranged in a series of close coils to form the fire-box, and thenwithin the combustionchamber is another series of close coils,preferably staggered, as shown in the drawings, to enable the water tobe still further heated in its passage up and through the heater. Thisheater-pipe is composed of a single piece of pipe bent and coiled to theproper shape to form the fire-box c and the heating-drum f, and thispipe is preferably made of scamless tubing.

The heating-drum, as that part of the coil that is arranged in asomewhat close series of bends in the upper part of thecombustionchamber has been termed, may be made in any convenient form,staggered as shown, in beehive shape, or in successive layers withgreater or less intervals and so arranged as to interrupt the heatedproducts of combustion as they pass from the fire-box up and around thecoils and out through the uptake g. (Shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings.)

From the heater pipes h in any convenient number branch to the radiatorsor coils arranged in one or more rooms in the building and a return-pipeextends from the radiators of the system back to the pipe f, the usual.valves and attachments common in a hot-water system being used. Apeculiar feature of our invention resides in the construction andarrangement of the equalizer 'i, into which the water flows from theheater-coil within the heater and from which it is dis tributed in aneven manner and in an equal degree to the several branches that may beconnected with the upper part of the equalizcr. ihis device consists ofabody part having, preferably, conical or equivalent form, smaller atthe bottom than at the part from which the branches extend and with areentrant part '5 extending within the body of the equalizer andterminating, preferably, opposite what may be termed the inletopening.It has been found by practice that by the use of this equalizer thedifficulty experienced in old devices of this class of providing for anequal and uniform flow of the water through different branches isobviated and an equal and uniform flow is established.

In the uptake or smoke-pipe g there is arranged a damper 7o, pivoted atone side of an opening g, and comprising a damper proper that extendscompletely across the fine and has a Wing 75 curved on the arc of acircle struck on the pivot from Which the damper swings and with sidewalls so as to extend completely across the opening through the Wall ofthe uptake or fiue. Through the wing or the side parts are formed portsk that provide for the inflow of air from the outside of the heaterthrough the flue to the chimney when the damper is closed or but partlyopened. When the damper is swung to the position denoted by the dottedoutline, a draft will be established through the heater and the greaterpart of the air-ports 1: closed. A lever Z is secured to thedamper-spindle and is preferably connected as by means of a cord orchain Z with an upper room, so that the position of the damper maybecontrolled from an upper apartment bya proper manipulation of this cord.

The usual doorway through the Wall of the heater is provided for theintroduction of fuel into the fire-box.

An important advantage in securing a posi-, tive circulation of thewater in the right direction resides in the arrangement of theintermediate coil that extends, in a sharper rise than is used in thecoil of the fire-box, from the top of the latter to the bottom of thecoils forming the heating-drum. A considerable space is thus leftbetween the top of the firebox and the bottom of the lower coil of theheating-drum, and this provides sufficient room for supplying fuel'tothe fire. This intermediate branch or pipe having the sharp rise, asisshown in Fig. 2 of the-drawings, is the pipe which is from its locationfirst heated. and, owing to the fact that the tendency of the heatedcolumn in that pipe is to rise, a circulation is started in the properdirection and is thoroughly established as the contents of successivepipes become heated. By the use of this intermediate branch any backfiowis prevented.

lVe claim as our invention- In a hot-Water heater in combination withthe base and top, side Walls comprising an inner layer of asbestos anintermediate layer or metal a layer of asbestos and wool, an airspaceand an outer jacket, a single length or Water pipe extending through theheaterchamber Within the drum with a series of closed coils forming theWalls of the fire-box and a series of irregular coils in thecombustion-chamber above the fire-box, and an equalizer interposedbetween the heater-coil and the distributing-pipes of the system, allsubstantially as described.

WILBUR L. SHEPARD. ERASTUS "W. VVHITLOCK.

lVitnesses:

CHAS. L. BURDETT, A. B. JENKINs.

